Isabela Island
Trip Start
Sep 07, 2011
1
256
289
Trip End
Sep 06, 2012
Where I stayed
Puerto Ayora, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador
Saturday, August 4, 2012
This boat journey, again, was going to take approx. 2 ½ hours, depending on the sea conditions. The boat we boarded this time made me laugh. I thought it was one of the river taxis. It looked more like a barge boat that you get taken up and down the River Avon. Not something that goes out into the ocean!! Let's hope it’s a calm ride.
Not a chance. Not quite as bad as yesterday but still rough. I found out the reason for the sea being so rough and it is because of the Full Moon which was 2 days ago. Hopefully it should start to get a little calmer, but not now anyway.
I heard more people being sick on the boat, but luckily they were sat at the back and Mel and I were up the front so no smell for us and also no watching.
When we arrived at Isabela, we hopped off the boat and then hopped back on a little boat to be taken to a small island which is a reserve for the Marine Iguana’s and sea lions. It is a black volcanic rock island literally just off of the mainland. We were taken along the walking trail and it was crazy to see the amount of iguana’s that were around. You had to be careful where you stood as they are pretty dark in colour and the path was covered in black volcanic stones. Difficult to see them. At one section of the island, where the sea comes into a small inlet and makes what looks like a large rock pool, we saw over 10 white tip sharks sleeping in the shallow waters. Who needs Kicker Rock to see sharks, when you can pop over here and they are in the shallow water. Apparently, they sleep during the day and go out hunting for fish at night. Wow, amazing to see so many.
Further around the pathway we saw lots of sea lions playing in the water and also basking in the sun which had popped out to say hello. We stayed on this little island for about 50 minutes watching all the wildlife before heading back to the boat.
Whilst heading back to the pier, we saw sea turtles swimming around. I must have seen about 4 or 5. Incredible. Before going back on the mainland, we had the chance to go snorkelling. It was a shame we couldn’t snorkel where the sharks were (protected area), but we got in all the same. Typically, nothing was around when we got in. When we got out, a turtle appeared and also, some penguins, yes penguins, got in and swam past us. These penguins and most of the other animals here in the Galapagos are Endemic to the islands, which means that you will not see them anywhere else in the world (apart from Zoos of course). I am such a lucky person to be able to see these amazing animals.
After snorkelling we had lunch right on the beach, which was lovely. After that, we were taken back to the mainland where we jumped on a bus and were taken to a lagoon where you can find the flamenco’s. Mel and I weren’t so excited about seeing these as we had seen so many on our travels. We were pleasantly surprised as they were so pink and underneath their wings, they were totally black. They looked awesome. We spent about 10 minutes here before then being taken to the breeding centre for Tortoises. The special thing about this breeding centre which is different to the Charles Darwin Centre is that all these tortoises are only from Isabela Island. The ones at Charles Darwin are from all the different islands.
They had lots of the giant tortoises as well as the baby ones which some were only a few months old. Once they reach a certain size, they are released back into the wild to try and raise the population numbers.
Once we had finished looking around the breeding centre, we were dropped back at the beach where we had about 1 ¼ to kill. Unfortunately for us, after about 15 minutes of being on the beach it started to rain. Mel and I decided to go off and find a café to have a cup of tea. Oh how British (even if Mel is Irish!).
Whilst we were sat down having our drinks, in walked Diana and her husband, her mum and Jess. They came over to the Island yesterday and are staying for a few days. It was good to see them. I have arranged to meet up with them before I leave as they go home the day before I leave on 14th.
The island seems a really nice place to stay and there are certainly a lot of things to do and tours to go on just around this island, so I am definitely going to make that crossing again on Monday and stay here for a few days.
The guide came back to pick us up at 3 pm and we headed back on the boat. The crossing was just as rough on the way back but no one seemed to be sick this time, thank goodness.
Both of us were so tired so we headed straight back to the hostel, to which I have been sat here for the past 2 hours catching up on my blogs. Sorry if they are not very informative or I don’t seem that enthusiastic, but I am shattered. I am truly having the most amazing time here with all the animals. It is the best place in the world and I never want to leave.
Comments
Wow, wow and wow. You are a lucky lady. You will be pleased to know that back in Blighty I spotted at least 4 girls wearing thick black tights at lunch today, who would have thought it was British Summer Time. Lol.